Cliffside Village is a neighbourhood on the east side of Toronto known as Scarbourough and more specifically bounded by St Clair Avenue to the north, Scarborough Bluffs and the Lake Ontario on the south, Brimley Road on the east and Kennedy Road on the west (where Danforth and Kingston meet).

The Kingston Road Avenue Study:  Proposed Revitalization / Development

A study was completed in 2009 to determine the most appropriate developments that would best invigorate revitalization of this stretch of Kingston Road.  A Local Advisory Committee (LAC) was formed that comprised of local residents in addition to property and business owners all representing the community and the intent was for the LAC to work with the City and consultants during the study period to give their feedback and input.

The Study was a joint effort between the City's Planning Department and various consulting firms who were retained by the City for this specific study.  The goal of the Study was to prepare area specific zoning to guide development setting out the mix of of uses, heights, densities, setbacks and other zoning standards. 

The recommendations of the Study as it pertained to the structure of the corridor was that the central core should have retail /commercial / institutional uses such as restaurants, retail stores, cafes and coffee shops, grocery stores, pharmacies, offices, daycares and galleries.  At either end of the corridor however, would be a predominantly residential mix.

In terms of the building forms and heights, it was recommended that the north side would have buildings with a maximum of 8 storeys and those on teh south side have a maximum of 11 storeys.

Further detail son the City's Kingston Road Avenue Road Avenue Study website at :   www.toronto.ca/planning/kingstonroad_cliffside community.

Significance to Home Buyers and Real Estate Investors

This is one of the many neighbourhoods in Toronto that are being discovered as other more established areas are becoming pricy and value driven Buyers and early adapters are flocking to neighbourhoods in transition.  An example of this is the neighbourhood known as the Junction and located just to the north of High Park in Toronto's west end.  As recently as the early 2000's the area was largely unnoticed with many buildings in disrepair.  Then, with the revitalization which included the City's installation of new street lights which helped to create  sense of community, and the  development of new residential and big box retail, and influx of new restaurants transformed teh area into a much more desirable area to live as evidenced by teh significantly higher real estate prices.

Cliffside Village has comparable potential and is in the early stages of a similar transformation.  The area to the south of Kingston Road is more disirable given its proximity to the Lake and the Bluffs with modest single family detached homes having sold in 2009 for the high $200,000's to mid $350,000.  The area to the north however has even more attractive price points where the majority of the single family detached propeties sold in 2009 were under $300,000.  The opportunity therefore exists to buy into this neighbourhood before the revitalization development occurs and increases the demand for real estate in the neighbourhood and hence, its values.